Months before the Catholic Shoppe permanently closed last year, I dropped by to replenish my medals stash, since I bead Franciscan Crowns and St. Anthony chaplets.

But why stop there

I also looked at the dual-sided medals— the kind with a different saint on either side— for Our Lady of Guadalupe, and who should I see but San Juan Diego.

Oh, good! I can use these on some of my crownsor make bracelets with them.

Then I found some St. Anthony medals, so I got a few of those for the chaplets. I much prefer the relics from Franciscan Mission Associates, but I have to make do with what’s available.

What I really and truly wanted were Holy Infant of Prague medals for some chaplets that I hadn’t yet begun to design, but I didn’t find any; and the shop had no idea when some would be in stock.

What to do, what to dosince I rarely drive into town to buy items I need.

Veritable rose

As I stood there trying to decide, I examined the medals I was holding and made quite a discovery. Not all the Lady of Guadalupe medals were paired with San Juan Diego. I’d erroneously assumed that all the medals in the bin were the same, yet some had the Santo Niño de Atocha instead of San Juan Diego.

Hallelujah! I’ll buy more of these with the Holy Infant and try my hand at crafting the chaplets I’ve had on hold all this time. Then, later on, I’ll come back to buy some Infant of Prague medals.

The beauty of it all is that the Infant, like Our Lady, is known to devotees by various names. Nevertheless, he’s one and the same regardless of our name for him, as the bishop told us at the feast day Mass of the Santo Niño de Cebú.

Bishop’s homily

Christmas is not over in the Philippines until the Santo Niño de Cebú feast day. The celebration began in 1521 when Magellan first introduced the statue from Spain. After a great fire, the Santo Niño statue miraculously remained intact; so it’s now a much venerated relic. But, whether the Infant is called the St. Infant of Prague or the Santo Niño de Atocha, the practice is the same. There are many beautiful stories. Growing up [in Ireland], there were always statues in homes. The custom was to place a coin under the statue, so the family would never go broke. The Infant of Prague statue was placed outside to guarantee fine weather for a wedding. The message from the Santo Niño has always been associated with humility, love, and trust. The Santo Niño calls in whispers. If we listen carefully, we hear him. The Lord calls us in different ways to give us a message to do what he asks. The Lord waits patiently for all of us to come to him, nonjudgmentally to follow him. If we do that— follow his counsel, trust in him— we need not worry. With him all things are possible (Bishop Edmund Carmody, 2009).

Two prototypes

Finally having both the time and the inclination to focus on creating the Child Jesus chaplets, I got to work.

The chaplet on the left, strung on black hemp, was completed first.

Since the devotion starts with three Our Father‘s, I chose blue for God’s powerful greatness. The pink beads represent Our Lady’s tender loving care, so they’re the twelve Hail Mary‘s. The green beads denote not only the promise of hope for the chaplet’s devotees, but also the thanksgiving and praise sent heavenward with the three Gloria‘s.

The chaplet on the right had me in contemplative, problem solving mode overnight. It’s visually different from the first because of its bright orange hue reminiscent of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Strung with elastic, it can be worn as a bracelet.

Christmas year ’round

Although the second chaplet posed somewhat of a challenge— um, many— since hiding knots takes a bit of creative talent, I’ve got my materials set out to bead at least one more bracelet with the three remaining Our Lady of Guadalupe/Santo Niño de Atocha medals on the dining table.

I can hardly wait to see how the rest of the chaplets turn out. And I’ll certainly add photos upon completion. After all, sharing the Child Jesus chaplet with others is one way to keep Christ in Christmas year ’round.